Finding Florida: Beaches

Finding Florida: Beaches edition is the way we justify going to the beach to supplement our Florida studies. We live literally 20 – 30 minutes from the beach. You can’t have 104 days of summer vacation without many trips to the beach. Follow along on Twitter, Instagram , or Facebook to see some of the pictures from our escapades. Logan is not a fan of the beach. It’s hot,bright plus the sand sends him into sensory overload. The unpredictability of the waves causes him stress. His sister loves the beach. She could live there and be perfectly happy. We compromise by not making Logan go with us every time.

This was completely on a whim. We happened to be picking up ground beef from Zaycon Foods . It sold out in our area so we were forced to drive to St. Petersburg to get it. One doesn’t simply drive past the beach then not stop. Following the signs from First Baptist Church of St. Petersburg brought us to Madeira Beach about an hour and a half before sunset. Granted , we had no bathing suits or towels. We stopped anyway. We went into the warm ocean in our clothes and stayed until the sun disappeared. It was the best $3 I’ve ever spent!

Right down the street from Clearwater Beach is Sand Key Park. We passed the already full parking lot of Clearwater Beach to find Sand Key Park relatively easily and quickly. Finding a spot on the beach wasn’t hard either. We set up quickly and ran into the water to have fun. The waves were intense to say the least here. The wind off the water was refreshing but also a tad strong. The kids managed to have fun even finding a starfish and several crabs. Lots of seaweed here!

Pros:

$5 for all day parking

Bathrooms and showers easily accessible

Lots of parking to choose from

Umbrellas and chairs available for rental ($25 per day)

Lifeguard on duty

Way less crowded than Clearwater Beach

Cons:

Waves were intense here. Great for body surfing or boogy boarding. Not great for swimming

Lots of seaweed in the water

Sand consists of broken up shells which you have to walk through to get to smooth sand in water, Bring water shoes.

Seagulls will steal the food right out of your hand. They are vicious. I would definitely keep an eye on small children with food. I would keep an eye on anyone with food. The scene is hilarious as long as it’s not you .

We stopped at this one on the way back from Alabama. This is located in North Florida. Destin to be exact. Camping area, grills, pavilions, and great bathrooms. Stone’s throw to the beach where it was the bluest water I have ever seen in the US. The sand was white and soft. The water was warm as usual. Previously, we stopped down the road a ways to find there were dead fish everywhere. None to be found here. Well maintained state park.

Once a month brings a long six day weekend for Michael. We decided since it would be a great idea to drive to a beach a little further than normal. Madison really likes shells plus we had my 3 year old great niece and nephew. Here’s the description on the webpage

” Bowman’s Beach offers some of the Sanibel’s best shelling, and some of the island’s most remote beach space. ”

What could be better than that? So we drive and drive and drive. 3+ hours to get there. In case you don’t know , it costs $6 to enter Sanibel Island. Yes, just to enter the island by the bridge. It’s the only way to enter the island so there really isn’t any other choice. You can use your Sunpass . We finally get there where it is discovered that there is no where to park. After circling the parking lot forever, we finally snag a spot. Parking is $2 per hour . Ouch. Then there is what feels like a mile walk to the beach which is not very remote. It was packed. Seriously packed. We find a spot to drop everything . We walk over to check out the roped off sea turtle nest. Everyone goes for the water where Madison points out that there are no shells. What? Are you serious? Yep, there is a ledge in between the shore and the water where there are shells . I was envisioning more all over the beach. Nope. We are there for a couple of hours before a typical afternoon thunderstorm rolls in. So 3 hours of driving for 2 hours at a shell less beach. Not impressed.

Cons:

Parking is expensive . $2 per hour

The walk to the beach is long. Really long

Not a shell beach or I’m blind

$6 to enter the island

Crowded

Pros:

There are spots right by the road on the water on your way to this park where you can pull over to park. That is what we should have done in hindsight.

Returning from our Disney cruise brought us into Port Canaveral which is right up the road from Cocoa Beach. We had a day or two left with our friends before they returned to Michigan so we decided to stay overnight. Of course there are lots of hotels on or near the beach. We managed to snag one relatively inexpensive considering it was Valentine’s Day weekend.

Cocoa Beach is a beach like no other. There are plenty of public parking although I don’t know what the price per hour to park was as we parked at the hotel. The entire beach area along with shopping is not really geared towards families. It’s more of an adult beach area. It’s busiest time of year is Spring Break when the college students descend. Of course the shops reflect that scenario.

The beach was clean as well as easily accessible. We enjoyed walking on it finding shells and what not. It is on the Atlantic so the water is not as warm as on the Gulf side. The waves are always bigger as well as stronger on the Atlantic side. It would be a great place to surf for sure.

Pros:

It’s near Kennedy Space Center as well as the cruise ports.

Lots of parking.

Beach is clean and large

Cons:

More geared towards adults in shops and restaurants

Be careful what time of year you visit as it is a favorite destination for college kids.

About Us

Call me Penny, wife to Michael as well as mom to Logan who has autism and Madison who is pursuing a dance career.
Based on my own personal and often difficult experiences with autism, I hope to educate families of children with autism on how to navigate their world from pre diagnosis to adulthood.